E30 M52
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Maiden Voyage:
I drove the car 5 miles to drop it off and get some exhaust pipes welded once and for all.
Even with the smaller brake booster the brake assist is decent, probably better than before thanks to a new booster and MC but the pads have always had crappy cold bite and are pretty worn now so the pedal travel isnt ideal.
I dont know if its the engine mounts or if the headers are just too close to the body but it vibrates everything. Its awful! Hopefully I get used to it or the exhaust work helps things.
The car idles solid, throttle response is great and it moves right off the line without bogging. I only had the car up to 3000 rpm but it definitely felt really slow off the line compared to my Infiniti. I was waiting for the in-rush of boost that I got used to with the last M20 build but it was just stale
At one point while cruising in 4th or 5th at low rpm, I couldnt tell if i was losing throttle response or just not used to the fuel cutoff/dead zone in the pedal. I pulled onto the shoulder to investigate but before i came to a stop it seemed like everything was fine and perhaps just my imagination. Between the extremely loud exhaust and fear of breaking down, I had plenty of anxiety, so it could have very well been my imagination.
Right after that though, the temp gauge started climbing around 3/4, but not quite to the red.
This is where hitting the dash and tapping on the cluster come in to play since the cluster has been known to glitch out.
The needle wasnt responding to my usual glitch remedy so i pulled over and turned the car off. When i clicked the ignition back on the needle snapped back to 1/2..... hmm alright. my destination was just a few blocks away so I kept going.
I arrived, shut off the car and popped the hood. There was a small puff of steam. The source of the steam was a coolant hose that was just about to slide off the water pump housing. Im very surprised it did not pop off and belch coolant everywhere.
I had idled the car for 15 minutes before and checked everything over a few weeks ago. But now with some revs and some pressure I suppose it pushed it off.
The clutch felt great, i did hear the clutch disc “skipping” a little during engagement though. Couldnt feel it, only heard it. So I hope this is just from the metal surfaces sitting for a couple years and will go away after some drive time, like when your rotors get rusty.
I didnt scrape on anything. Even railroad tracks.
I should be able to pick the car up tomorrow night. I sure hope I like it better once the exhaust is on.
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I'm sure it will all be fine. You know you're driving a car for the induction noises and it's NA power so you'll never get that sensation. My S50 rocked steady all the way to redline but it never had any of that oomph that I had come to expect from the 135. You know this of course but I'm sure it feels weird still after a turbo setup before.
2011 E92 M3 6MT ZCP - ESS 625 supercharged
2007 Z4MR
2003 E39 M5
2002 E46 M3
2021 X5 40i -
You should borrow bens temp gun
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The rattling is just from open headers. I had the exhaust fall off of my Corolla (maybe from jumping curbs) and it would rattle your teeth out with it open after the cat.
Also these engines shine the most ABOVE 3000 RPM. You will like it once you get used to it. I think it is less obvious on OBD2 but on OBD1 the vanos point around 3500RPM is like switching on noticeably more HP.
Edit: Also you might have had a bubble of air in the cooling system, I usually hold the revs around 2000 when bleeding to get some velocity of coolant to carry the air into the radiator to come out the bleed hose.
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I think what you may have been dealing with in terms of "stale" power is the fact that you were used to boost building without increasing throttle input.
Now you'll need to lean on the throttle more to get more out of it, which will be a change of habit.I'm glad to hear things are going alright!
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The rattling is just from open headers. I had the exhaust fall off of my Corolla (maybe from jumping curbs) and it would rattle your teeth out with it open after the cat.
Also these engines shine the most ABOVE 3000 RPM. You will like it once you get used to it. I think it is less obvious on OBD2 but on OBD1 the vanos point around 3500RPM is like switching on noticeably more HP.
Edit: Also you might have had a bubble of air in the cooling system, I usually hold the revs around 2000 when bleeding to get some velocity of coolant to carry the air into the radiator to come out the bleed hose.
Yeah, it was tough to bleed the system in suburbia when its idling like a top fuel dragster. When I pick the car up I will come armed with a temp gun, gallon of coolant, and bleeding supplies and do it in the parking lot.
I think what you may have been dealing with in terms of "stale" power is the fact that you were used to boost building without increasing throttle input.
Now you'll need to lean on the throttle more to get more out of it, which will be a change of habit.I'm glad to hear things are going alright!
Yeah that is true, your initial throttle input to accelerate gradually gets an added dose of power once the turbina wakes up.
Im feeling a little more excited about things today. Yesterday I had plenty of chaos unrelated to the E30 that contributed to the anxiety of the maiden voyage. I have to be happy that it idles well and doesnt leak oil. Here's to hoping a simple re-bleed tonight will have me running cool for years to come
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Here's to hoping a simple re-bleed tonight will have me running cool for years to come
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I let my car idle for 15-20 minutes, it got up to temperature, I opened the screw a few times. I had just half of a baby's breath of air puff out and that was all I could get. As far as i'm concerned its bled, but we will see for sure once I start driving. Definitely easier than bleeding an M42 radiator on an M20
when you said this in the other thread I was skeptical. the way i go about it is jacking the drivers corner up, cracking the expansion tank cap, and massaging the lower rad hose. its fairly obvious if there is air trapped - you can hear the hose gurgle when you squeeze it and you can see the coolant with air bubbles coming through the small overflow line from the radiator to the expansion tank. you can also feel the temp difference across the radiator until the air is out.
Dan
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Also these engines shine the most ABOVE 3000 RPM. You will like it once you get used to it.
This! Vanos starts switching over around 3000rpm, above that is where its at!
Edit: Also railing it through corners, that's really where it's at
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Stock Toyota Sienna radiator and expansion tank
jk
Upgraded Aluminum M20 radiator from ECS Tuning and a new Stock late model E30 expansion tank with a new 200kpa E39 528i pressure cap
That should self bleed any remaining bubbles, just drive it and make keep checking the tank until it steadies out to make sure it doesn't get low. That is an ideal setup in my opinion. You don't need the cap off once most of the air is out. You can see the bubbles coming from the metal tube going to the bottom of the expansion tank if there are any. The tube prevents air from going back to the radiator when the car is shut off.
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https://www.amazon.com/UView-550000-Airlift-Cooling-Checker/dp/B0002SRH5G#customerReviews
One of my absolute favorite tools for putting fresh coolant in any vehicle. If your unfamiliar with what this is, It uses vacuum to suck the coolant into the cooling system ( No air bubbles, no dicking around trying to raise the front of the car or trying to bleed the system). It's super fast (literally 2 minutes and your done) and it also works as a good tool to check for any cooling system leaks before putting any coolant in. I have one you are more then welcome to use if you'd like.
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https://www.amazon.com/UView-550000-Airlift-Cooling-Checker/dp/B0002SRH5G#customerReviews
One of my absolute favorite tools for putting fresh coolant in any vehicle. If your unfamiliar with what this is, It uses vacuum to suck the coolant into the cooling system ( No air bubbles, no dicking around trying to raise the front of the car or trying to bleed the system). It's super fast (literally 2 minutes and your done) and it also works as a good tool to check for any cooling system leaks before putting any coolant in. I have one you are more then welcome to use if you'd like.
We had one of these or something similar at the shop I used to work at, it was fantastic. I was able to use it on my e36 at one point and it made filling and bleeding it a 5 minute process.
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Picked the car up. The exhaust is louder than Id like it to be but its sufficient for suburbia.
It turns out the lower radiator hose wasnt even secured and the hose clamp was dangling. So I secured that and
I went down the road from the exhaust place to NAPA to reassess the coolant bleeding situation for the rest of the trip home. That way if i needed any more tools or supplies than I was already carrying, id be okay.
I did get some air out, however, when I went a few blocks down the road, the temp climbed to 3/4 again. So I kept pulling over and trying to bleed it more.
I live my life a quarter mile at a time I guess....
The stumble that i thought I felt yesterday occurred a little bit but only when revving in neutral while bleeding, and the coolant was looking a little dirty. So I started down the familiar road of coming to terms with the chance that the head gasket was bad.
I checked the dipstick for milkshake.... nope, looks good. Then checked under the oil cap.....
Uh....
The current situation is still very much point/counterpoint though.
Point: the car appears to be running hot (according to the gauge)
Counterpoint: The gauge may be glitchy
Point: theres milkshake under the oil cap
Counterpoint: But it could be condensation from the oil sitting for the last 6 months, and the dipstick was clean
Point: The coolant got a little dirty
Counterpoint: The inside of the block is full of rust and scale im sure from sitting dry for at least a year.
Point: The engine stumbled a bit
Counterpoint: The gas is about 2 years old, the maf or tps may not be perfect, and the ECU may not have had a fair chance to establish adaptations
Point: its obvious the engine has run hot in the past from all the stripped cam bearing holes I experiences
Counterpoint: its also obvious someone has been in there before and perhaps there is a fresh head gasket on the engine. The Compression numbers I tested A few months ago were stellar
My next stop was the gas station. It took 8 gallons of fresh 93 octane to help dillute te old stuff. I continued to limp home and watch the temp gauge get to 3/4, pulled it in the driveway and got bummed out that things arent going well so far.
Im right back where I was a year ago faced with the possibility of a broken car and looking at another $1000 and many weekends of my free time to get things squared away again.
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I pulled the batt cable to reset adaptations and went out for another 3 mile drive after yet another bleeding attempt. The temperature once again went to 3/4. i switched the car off then back on again.....
Aha!
Just like yesterday once i turned the car off and on again the needle snapped back to just under 1/2 and stayed there. I started realizing the gauge may actually be lying to me and made my way home to start connecting the VDO gauges I installed.
It was running top notch, no sign of any issues, it seems like the reset and the fresh gas are showing a difference already
I have the wires run for the VDO gauges but do not have the sensors installed. I have been waiting to order an oil distribution block and also a good enough reason to pull the thermostat housing so i could drill and tap it for the VDO sending unit.
It was my intention to keep the stock temp gauge in the cluster function and use the vdo as a backup/sanity check but I need answers and cant trust the stock one anymore.
I removed the stock temp sender and installed the VDO one in its place without removing the intake manifold. Do I win a prize?
Im actually feeling quite optimistic now.
Tomorrow I will give it a long drive and see for sure what the temperature is. As far as things are going right now, it seems to be running perfect and its just the temp. gauge reading that is an issue.
Here is a video of the gauge reading climbing then reverting back to a better reading after shutting the car off.
And a video of the engine running ever so smooth and nice.
Please let this be just a lying gauge and not another head gasket....
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